Tonight’s Skins episode features the sure to be controversial Tea (Sofia Black D’Elia), a new character for the US remake.
Tea is cheerleader, and out-and-proud lesbian (except to her parents) who woos girls and dumps them because she feels like no one is interesting enough.
Just the first episode of Skins inciting a firestorm of backlash at the show (which airs at 10 p.m. and features a TV MA warning) from parental advisory groups, and several advertisers have pulled out, including Taco Bell.
Despite all the outrage, Sofia Black-D’Elia, whose previous acting role was on All My Children, stands firm behind her character and her show. She told PopEater‘s Rob Shuter
“It’s the way teenagers behave, I think, especially you know in certain situations when you come from home lives where your parents don’t really support you or really listen to you. That’s what most of these kids are going through.”
Black-D’Elia also commented to Stepin’ Out magazine (via Hollywood Gossip):
“As an actor on the show I’m proud of everything that we’ve done. We created something that we really care about.
“We feel the show has so much heart and potential and can impact so many teens,” Sofia said. “If people are going to focus on a 17-year-old having a sex scene as opposed to the rest of the entire series, there’s nothing else I can really say.”
“I think those people are missing out. For parents who are afraid to let their children watch the show, they probably have some serious trust issues with
“I think those people are missing out. For parents who are afraid to let their children watch the show, they probably have some serious trust issues with
The US version is still pretty new and trying to find it’s own voice, but the UK version is more gritty, and racy, and is an excellent show that uses a sense of hyper-reality to tackle some of the more complicated feelings and issues that teenagers experience. If the US version stands up to the UK version in quality, then more power to them for taking this risk of rustling a few feathers.
The teaser for the episode features a hot-and-steamy lesbian kiss:
